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Submerged

This is the music review of
Beyond the Call of Duty (1999).

I don't even want to know how many hours I spent in the sequel, Men of Courage . The concept of the Commandos-series, sneaking through enemy-infested bases with a small squad of soldiers from an iso-perspective, meticulously planning every step and then setting off the alarm because of some striped cone of sight, was as frustrating as it was gripping. Especially if, like me, you make it even more difficult for yourself and instead of killing anyone, only stunned them.

As the genre was treated far too neglected for a long time, I always felt a little nostalgic when I thought back to the series. Fortunately, games like Desperados and Shadow Tactics have brought a breath of fresh air. And although I haven't played Behind Enemy Lines I can imagine that the missions were no less exciting. This puzzle logic simply has a timeless flavor and is, at least for me, a lot of fun.

As good as the actual game may be, the score unfortunately misses the mark in comparison to its successor. As we, or rather I, have had to realize several times now, usually a series' founders around and especially before the turn of the millennium always fall a little short musically in comparison to their successors. David García-Morales Inés doesn't manage to conjure up anything really worth listening to that navigates past the quality filters to the feel-good center.

Instead, we get almost irrelevant background music, which presumably complements the stealth gameplay well, but apart from that is essentially boring. A little drumming, a little drama, which is probably intended to create a feeling of anxiety. Plus a few more melodic pieces such as the Credits-theme, which is reminiscent of the melody of Oh my darling Clamentine - that's basically it. And the length of 25 tracks is also rather cheated because of the tracks from number 13 onwards, some of which are only a few seconds long.

Now you might think that this judgment is too harsh, after all, the stealth genre leaves the composer little creative leeway! Here are my two cents on this: Something great can be distilled from every score, and the fact that this can also work with games like Commandos is shown not least by the other spin-offs. All in all, Behind Enemy Lines really is behind expectations, making you want to crawl away rather than lie in wait.

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No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Menu	David García-Morales Inés	3
02	Disembarkation in Normandy	David García-Morales Inés	2
03	Final Assault on the Third Reich	David García-Morales Inés	3
04	Briefing 1	David García-Morales Inés	3
05	Briefing 2	David García-Morales Inés	3
06	Briefing 3	David García-Morales Inés	2
07	War in Northen Africa	David García-Morales Inés	3
08	Cross the Rhin	David García-Morales Inés	3
09	Operation in Norway	David García-Morales Inés	3
10	Theme Tutorials	David García-Morales Inés	2
11	Credits	David García-Morales Inés	3
12	End of the Second World War	David García-Morales Inés	3
13	Start Mission 1	David García-Morales Inés	2
14	Start Mission 2	David García-Morales Inés	1
15	Start Mission 3	David García-Morales Inés	2
16	Start Mission 4	David García-Morales Inés	1
17	Start Mission 5	David García-Morales Inés	1
18	Start Mission 6	David García-Morales Inés	2
19	Successful Mission 1	David García-Morales Inés	2
20	Successful Mission 2	David García-Morales Inés	2
21	Successful Mission 3	David García-Morales Inés	2
22	Unsuccessful Mission 1	David García-Morales Inés	2
23	Unsuccessful Mission 2	David García-Morales Inés	1
24	Unsuccessful Mission 3	David García-Morales Inés	2
25	Exit Game	David García-Morales Inés	1

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Beyond the Call of Duty

After David García-Morales Inés set the tone for the series in the main game, the musical design of the Commandos-series from Beyond the Call of Duty thankfully went to Mateo Pascual. I know that sounds a little more mean than it is meant to, because I actually like the musical character that the previous composer set: this hushed style, sometimes too dramatic, sometimes too calm. What could have ended in a tabula rasa turns out to be a fresh cell treatment for García-Morales Iné's crumbling foundation after just a few tracks.

Both composers pursue a similar synth instrumentalization: in both the main game and the add-on, drawn-out melodies waft out of the loudspeakers. But where Behind Enemy Lines aims for the most unagitated background sprinkling possible, Pascual relies on more dominant and consequently more concise melodies. Although some of them sound a little like The Settlers in camouflage outfits - and in the case of Credits like Barbie Horse Adventures - they very well underline the special nature of the Commandos-games.

Unlike a Sam Fisher or comparable stealth games in the first-person perspective, Commandos is more of a strategy game. Although the focus here is also on sneaky action, the accompanying music does not necessarily have to be used to build up tension - because the gameplay does that all by itself. The Beyond the Call of Duty Suite, shows just how large the scope of possibilities is, which Pascual successfully fills in the sequel Commandos 2: Men of Courage at the latest. Beyond the Call of Duty may not yet have anything mind-blowing to offer, but the promise of great things is in the air - or somewhere in the corner.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Menu	Mateo Pascual	3
02	The Allied Forces Advance	Mateo Pascual	3
03	Guess Who's Coming Tonight	Mateo Pascual	4
04	The German March	Mateo Pascual	4
05	The German Forces	Mateo Pascual	4
06	Briefing	Mateo Pascual	3
07	Dying Light	Mateo Pascual	3
08	Eagle's Nest	Mateo Pascual	4
09	Peace Treaty / Enemy Threat	Mateo Pascual	4
10	Waiting for Action	Mateo Pascual	3
11	Thor's Hammer	Mateo Pascual	3
12	Studying the Battlefield	Mateo Pascual	4
13	Credits	Mateo Pascual	4
14	Beyond the Call of Duty Suite	Mateo Pascual	4